Does anyone know about a "five-year long game" that fizzled out on Denny O'Neil's watch?

[Lorendiac]

I recently saw an online piece from Denny O'Neil in which he was talking about "the long game." He started out by talking about the slow pace at which various characters, plot elements, etc., were introduced and developed in the first season of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", but he also reminisced a bit about similar experiments he had witnessed in the medium of comic books in times past.

For instance! Denny said there was a time when he took over as the new editor on an ongoing title -- and then discovered that his predecessor had promised the current writer that he could have his head and keep pressing forward, bit by bit, with a master plan for a five-year story! O'Neil didn't want to break that promise (even though he had never been a part of it), but he had serious doubts about the viability of such a slow build-up in the comic book market of that era. He says he thought it over and finally reached an acceptable compromise with the writer: The guy's run could continue full speed ahead, according to plan, as long as the monthly sales stayed above a certain figure.

Which they didn't.

So the title got cancelled long before the writer could unveil the end of his five-year plan.

Denny doesn't specify the title, the writer, or even the publishing company. I strongly suspect, though, that he was referring to something that happened when he was doing editorial work for Marvel in the early-to-mid 1980s, before he switched over to DC to become the Batman group editor for the Post-Crisis era.

Does anybody know -- or have a really good guess -- which title Denny is referring to as having quietly dropped dead long before a writer could complete his ambitious five-year "long game" by building up to whatever the eventual Grand Finale was supposed to be?

[Expletive Deleted]

So (A) Denny edited it, (B) he came on board the series in midstream, (C) the series was cancelled, and (D) it was the same writer through Denny's tenure as editor.

Based on a quick perusal of comics.org, I don't see any perfect candidates. He jumped off Ghost Rider well before the end. He was the first editor on Moon Knight. He presided over the final issues of Master of Kung Fu and Power Man & Iron Fist, but with several writers.

Maybe Machine Man?

[Lorendiac]

Just thought I'd revive this thread and see if anyone can help me pin it down. Which series was Denny probably reminiscing about?